Alright, sorry in advance if this has already been discussed and I'm beating a dead horse. I couldn't find anything using the search function on the forums or google.

I'm currently in a 3.5 game where the DM is pretty relaxed with the rules, as in all books are allowed and probably all the dragon magazines. Only exceptions would be random, so I'm just going to go with the idea that it's all allowed.

My character or the rest of the party doesn't matter (I'm a Warforged 10 Artificer with a Thought Bottle so money is less of an issue and I can make some of the stuff.) The setting doesn't really matter as well (it's ship-based).

Anyways, I was planning on unveiling the newest creation of mine: a rod of Major Creation, a wand of Shrink Item, and a wand of Launch Item. I was thinking of putting it all in a tube with probably a Portable Hole in the back. The way I envision it working is the Rod of MC is activated, creating a large mass of some material (I was thinking adamantium but I could choose something else). Then Shrink Item would be used to shrink the chunk of material into a more manageable slug. This slug is then launched using Launch Item. Now then, my questions can be broken down into two parts: Making the thing and how powerful the slug would be.

First, is it even possible to use Major Creation to create a mass that's then shrunk down and launched? Or would I have to do something like Wall of Iron/Stone? Next, could I somehow combine the three magic items into one convenient package or will I have to stick with the three standard actions to launch it? Finally, is there some convenient way to limit the number of times it can fire? I don't really want to have this thing be a fast firing thing that ruins castles without even trying. 1-10 minute firing sequences would be alright in my books.

As for the firing itself it's more of an optimization exercise than anything. The formula for kinetic energy is E = 1/2*m*v2, or at least the one I know of and have been using on my own. The speed of Launch Item is either 100 + 10ft per CL (for Spell Compendium) or 400 + 40ft per CL (for Magic of Faerun). I personally prefer the MoF version because I recognize I would use Enlarge on it to make it 800 + 80ft per CL.
Thus the speed of the thing is 800+80ft per CL over 6 seconds. That's 133.3~ + 13.3~ ft/s per CL. Alternatively (since Kinetic Energy uses SI units, using 0.3048 for the conversion rate) it's 40.64 + 4.064 m/s per CL.
As for Major Creation, if allowed and using adamantium, the mass of the thing would be 1 ft^3 per CL * the density of it. According to this link (http://www.comicvine.com/forums/gen-discussion/1/does-adamantium-weigh-the-same-as-steel/422582/) and being lazy with the rounding, adamantium has a density of 8 g/cm^3. Using google again, the conversion factor is 28.3168466. Thus, each cubic foot is 226.5 kg.
Shrink Item is the simplest thing of the bunch, requiring it's caster level to be 1/2 of whatever the caster level is for Major Creation.

With all that and plugging the numbers into the happy fun formula we get the following: KE = .5 * (226.5 * CL of MC) * (40.64 + 4.064 * CL of LI)^2. Does everything seem correct to everyone else? If so, then I'd like y'all's input on how I could make this thing cheaper, more powerful (in terms of when it fires, not necessarily with how many times it can fire in a given day), and more legit in general.

DMMike

01-17-2011, 05:36 PM

Cheaper and more legit: use the old standby. Compare it to items similar in power/usefulness, and price accordingly.

Is it possible? Where there's magic, there's possibility.

Gunhaven

01-19-2011, 12:14 AM

Alright. I've decided to do some hand waving, justified by the fact that few of the magic items in the DMG follow the magic item pricing rules, and priced the following at 150k. I've also changed around the original idea, tell me if it seems like it could work. It's divided into two parts: The Gun and The Battery.
The Gun: The Gun would be a pretty much hollow Mithril Tube roughly 4 feet long and 18 inches in diameter. Inside of the tube would be a silver rod that's been enchanted with a continuous Resist Fire. On the outside is a scope that's enchanted with a Use-Activated Guided Shot. In addition the trigger mechanism is attached to the outside, which would be a Twin Celerity. Finally, a wand of Polymorph Any Object would be attached at one end so that whatever is being fired can be changed into the desired mass.

The Battery: Each Battery would be a cylinder that's been Permanent Shrink Item down to 2 feet long by 18 inches diameter. Either end would be a screw so that you can screw it into the gun. In the middle of the cylinder would be a continuation of the Silver Rod from the Gun. In addition, one section of the cylinder would have a section cut out for an Eternal Wand of Call Lightning. Everything else would be a battery/capacitor/what have you. With some hand waving and justification that the thing a little over 1337 cubic feet, I figure it can work. In addition, the battery wouldn't be able to hold a charge for more than some time. I think that an hour would be reasonable to keep it under control.

Thus the firing sequence would be: Activate Eternal Wand. Wait a round for a Lightning Bolt to charge the Battery, continue waiting for more power if desired. Once desired power is reached Activate the Scope, possibly a move action or standard action. Once a target is found, activate the trigger. Use one standard action to fire the thing and the other to activate the Wand of POA, changing the speeding projectile to the desired mass. Be dazed for the rest of the turn.